Summer Reading List – Part II

HOT READS FOR THE PRACTIONER

Title: Stanford University, Graduate School of Business

Competencies: visionary leadership, technological leadership, strategic problem analysis, change management, ethics and trust, interpersonal effectiveness, team building, performance management, innovation, judgment, decision making, recognizing/rewarding performance

Who benefits: readers interested in current business literature

Consultant Usage: staying up-to-date, executive coaches making reading recommendations

What’s it about? This week I continue to visit the websites of some of the most respected US university business schools to find the latest publications from their faculty.  Today I am out west at Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.  Here is what some of their professors have written recently:

The Red Queen among Organizations: How Competitiveness Evolves (2008) by William P. Barnett. There’s a scene in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass in which the Red Queen, having just led a chase with Alice in which neither seems to have moved from the spot where they began, explains to the perplexed girl: “It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.”  The author suggests that a similar dynamic is at work, shaping how firms and industries evolve over time.  (A 1.03 hour video file is available by using the Stanford link at the top of this entry.)

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die  (2007) by Chip Heath and Dan Heath.  Mark Twain once observed, “A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on.” His observation rings true: Urban legends, conspiracy theories, and bogus public-health scares circulate effortlessly. Meanwhile, people with important ideas–business people, teachers, politicians, journalists, and others–struggle to make their ideas “stick.”  Why do some ideas thrive while others die? And how do we improve the chances of worthy ideas?

Since this is, after all, a summer reading list, let me insert a more traditional beach read that could be considered a fictional companion to Made to Stick.  David Balducci has written a thriller, The Whole Truth, based upon the new and very real threat of professional “perception management” firms that seek to create and disseminate “truths” to support a cause.  And if you are in the mood for this kind of beach read, how can you resist a book that opens with the following line: “Dick, I need a war.”  (Not the Dick you think it is … or is it?)

What Were They Thinking?: Unconventional Wisdom About Management (2007) by Jeffrey Pfeffer.  Every day companies and their leaders fail to capitalize on opportunities because they misunderstand the real sources of business success. The author provides data and insights to help companies make smarter decisions and guidelines for executives and managers on how to think more deeply and intelligently about critical management issues.

Logics of Organization Theory:Audiences, Codes, and Ecologies (2007) by Michael T. Hannan, László Pólos & Glenn R. Carroll. Three leading authorities rethink organization theory, advancing  organizational theory, and drawing lessons for theory building elsewhere in the social sciences.

Innovation in Medical Technology: Ethical Issues and Challenges (2007) by Margaret L. Eaton and Donald Kennedy.  The book examines the ethical, legal, and social problems that arise with cutting-edge medical technology.  (Two short video files are available by using the Stanford link at the top of this entry.)

Before closing I want to thank reader Christine who wrote back after last week’s entry about Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls and added: “Judgment is an outstanding read; the first comprehensive look at the entire decision process from inception to execution. Noel Tichy recently did a program surrounding this book that is still available on-demand. I saw it live and it really brings these points to life.”

Happy summer reading. 

 

[tags] visionary leadership, technological leadership, strategic problem analysis, change management, ethics and trust, interpersonal effectiveness, team building, performance management, innovation, judgment, decision making, recognizing/rewarding performance, truth, tipping point, perception management, bill bradley, william bradley,  bradley[/tags]

Bill Bradley

Bill Bradley (mostly) retired after 35 years in organizational consulting, training and management development. During those years he worked internally with seven organizations and trained and consulted externally with more than 90 large and small businesses, government agencies, hospitals and schools.